Oilers at Flames
The Edmonton Oilers opened their new arena with budding superstar Connor McDavid playing a leading role, but the Calgary Flames will attempt to rewrite the script when they host their provincial rival on Friday in a rematch of the season opener. McDavid scored twice, including the tiebreaking goal, as the Oilers christened Rogers Place with a 7-4 win over the Flames on Wednesday night.
"The anticipation for this game was huge and the fans were excited and all the greats were in the building," McDavid said of the presence of Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and others from the franchise's halcyon days. "It was an exciting night for our whole organization and it was a good way to start it." Calgary fell behind 70 seconds into the game and realized it cannot get into a track meet in the second installment of the Battle of Alberta. "We played right into their hands," Flames captain Mark Giordano said. "They won their home game. Now it's on us. We've gotta win ours." Calgary has won four of its last five at home versus the Oilers.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Sportsnet1, Sportsnet 360
ABOUT THE OILERS (1-0-0): McDavid, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft, changed the momentum after Calgary forged a tie with a pair of short-handed goals, breaking a tie 86 seconds later before adding a penalty shot moments later as part of his three-point night. "He was Connor. He was our leader," Edmonton coach Todd McLellan said. "He had fire in his eyes." The Oilers also got a lift from another youngster as Jesse Puljujarvi, the fourth overall selection in this year's draft, notched a power-play goal in his NHL debut to put the game out of reach.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (0-1-0): Calgary signed Brian Elliott to be the answer to the goaltending woes that plagued the team, but he had a nightmarish debut for the Flames, allowing three goals on the first five shots he faced, including the first two. "It was kind of one of those nights where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong," said Elliott, who helped St. Louis reach the Western Conference finals last season. "That's not the way you want to start the season." Star forward Johnny Gaudreau also had a rough season debut with a minus-3 showing.
OVERTIME
1. McDavid had a game-high six shots on goal in the season opener.
2. The Flames received short-handed tallies from Fs Troy Brouwer and Michael Frolik as well as a power-play goal from D Dennis Wideman.
3. The Oilers recalled D Eric Gryba from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League and placed D Brandon Davidson on injured reserve.